How To: Get a Late Start on Your Thesis

It’s already more than halfway through September and some seniors may just realizing that they have a thesis to do...oops. Whether you had a great summer visiting wonderful places, doing super important work at your internship (yeah, sure we believe you weren’t just filing papers), or just chilling before senior year, we understand that it is easy to forget you on-campus responsibilities. But add-drop period is over, recruiting season is here, and you have some work to do. Here are things you should remember as you kick your thesis into gear:

Check if you can even start your thesis now
Different departments and concentrations have different guidelines and dates for doing a thesis. This means that the deadlines for agreeing to do a thesis might have already passed. Don’t get ready to accept long, late, coffee-filled nights when it will be all for naught. Email your concentration advisor, your thesis advisor or anyone else who can get you started. It might be nice if you already have a proposal in mind.

Find your hole and claim it
Like an animal who needs to find a place for hibernation, you need to find a place to hide. But unlike animals preparing to hibernate, you will spend your long, cold, winter working instead of sleeping Your hole will be a place you can stay for hours on end without distraction. Make sure you have easy access to a bathroom, an outlet, and food/drink. Whether your preferred space is a library carrel you’ve reserved or the corner table in Starbucks, make sure you claim (and defend) your territory.

Create a GoFundMe, or at least a budget
Doing a thesis imposes a cost not only on your sanity, but also on your wallet. You could get a job to pay for your 4 a.m., caffeine-induced snacks, but this might add too much stress given your already-nonexistent amount of free time. So you’ll need to figure out a way to finance your misery, whether that is tapping into the goodwill of your family, friends and people, or just keeping track of your expenses for the semester. If you do decide to go for the crowdfunding route, make a funny title like “Help Me Survive this Year of Writing and Crying,” as practice for your eventual thesis title. You need every penny you can get to fund all the paper printing you will have to do.

Get a planner and keep track of your life
A fancy planner with a pretty cover will make it at least look like you have your life together. If you don’t want to spend your life’s savings at Staples, use Google Calendar to keep track of your deadlines and advisor meetings, Make sure you have some semblance of order for the fall semester to reduce your stress about accidentally missing a meeting or assignment.